Airing on Tuesday, March 31, 2015: First up, we take a look at Jay Z new music streaming site, Tidal, which was just re-launched. We're joined by Ian Sherr, Executive Editor of CNET News, to talk about whether the rap mogul can compete with Spotify, Apple etc. Next, we turn to Reddit's "dark net markets," which have become a hot bed of activity for online drug sales. We'll speak with Wired’s Andy Greenberg about federal attempts to find criminals on Reddit. And we'll take a look at a recent finding by economists that Silicon Valley has the highest rate of economic mobility in the US. People at the bottom of the income ladder have a roughly 12 percent chance of climbing up into the top fifth of the income ladder. The downside? That leaves 88 percent of the economy who aren't making that climb and all those people that did make the leap have caused the cost of living to climb ever higher.

Airing on Monday, March 30, 2015: First up, we talk with Marisa Kendall, reporter for The Recorder, about the Kleiner Perkins trial. Next, we take a look at Northeastern University's plan to launch a series of educational hubs embedded directly in select companies across the Bay area – starting with Silicon Valley. The Boston college says the program takes a unique hybrid approach - part online, part face-to-face instruction - and aims to draw in more women and minorities to the STEM field. How does it plan to do that? Also, Marketplace’s Tobin Low brings us an audio postcard from the maker of MiMu Gloves, a gestural instrument that works like a wearable theremin.

Airing on Friday, March 27, 2015: We take a look at the European Union's upcoming investigation into how e-commerce sites like Amazon operate in its twenty-eight countries. There’s a concern that these companies are violating the EU’s antitrust laws by blocking cross border trade. Next, we talk with Pai-Ling Yin, a Social Science Research Scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, about the proliferation of livestreaming services. And Ben Richmond, contributing editor to Vice’s Motherboard, joins us for this week's Silicon Tally!

Airing on Thursday, March 26, 2015: First up, we talk with William McGeveran, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Law School, about selling customer data in the RadioShack auction. Next, we take a look at Microsoft new policy that all (U.S.) vendors with 50 employees or more must offer their employees 10 days paid vacation and 5 days sick leave, or some combination thereof. What impact might this have, and beyond publicity, what’s in it for Microsoft? And we'll also speak with Sarah Jeong, a tech policy journalist, about doxxing and swatting.

Airing on Wednesday, March 25, 2015: First up, we talk with Molly Wood, Tech Columnist for the New York Times, about the expansion of Facebook Messenger. Next, Ben talks with Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, about retail training for Saudi women and why social media can be a complicated tool in Saudi Arabia.

Airing on Tuesday, March 24, 2015: First up is Nidhi Kalra, Information scientist at the RAND Corporation, to talk about autonomous vehicles. Next, we ask why Big tobacco wants us to know that E-cigarettes are bad for us. What’s driving this public health message? Also, Ben speaks with Lindsey Turrentine, Editor-in-Chief of CNET.com, about the Internet of things in your yard.

Airing on Monday, March 23, 2015: The long-awaited student privacy bill from the Federal government is expected to land today. Early indications are it will be better for the education tech industry than for parents or student-data privacy advocates. Firs up, we discuss what to expect from this legislation. Next, we move onto the White House’s fifth annual science fair, which is happening today. Marketplace's Adriene Hill talks with Norm Brennan, a science teacher at the Mirman School, about how technology is changing science fairs.

Airing on Friday, March 20, 2015: First up is Stephen Cobb, security researcher at ESET North America, to talk about the Target data breach settlement. Next, we with Jacob Poushter, Research Associate at Pew Research Center, about a new report that looks at attitudes about the Internet in developing countries. And how well have you kept up with the week in tech news? Marketplace’s David Gura joins us for this week's Silicon Tally.

Airing on Thursday, March 19, 2015: First up is Forrester analyst Frank Gillett to talk about Apple’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Next, we talk to Astro Teller, “Captain of Moonshots” at Google(x), about failing, ideas Google(x) has passed on, and the one technology that could unlock all kinds of other moonshots. We'll also introduce you to the sounds of Austin during SXSW.

Airing on Wednesday, March 18, 2015: From SXSW in Austin, we speak with John Maeda, former president of RISD and design partner at the venture capital firm KCPB, about reconciling the pace of the tech industry with the pace of good design. Next, Thomas Middleditch, star of HBO’s "Silicon Valley," on recreating an authentic version of nerd culture.

Airing on Tuesday, March 17, 2015: From SXSW in Austin, we chat with cartoonist and graphic memoirist Alison Bechdel. And yes, she's also the one who popularized the now famous Bechdel Test. She chats with us about why we need memoirs, what it's like cartooning in the digital age (Google Image Search helps) and what a Bechdel test for tech companies would look like.

Airing on Monday, March 16, 2015: We've spent the weekend exploring SXSW Interactive, and today we sit down with Steve Case, former CEO of AOL and Washington venture capitalist. Then, we head over to the Austin J.W. Marriott, where representatives from Houston, Raleigh and other cities are jockeying to attract tech talent and, hopefully, the Next Big Thing.

Airing on Friday, March 13, 2015: Today, we’re coming to you from an Austin bar, where we will take a look at the impact of SXSW visitors on the city. First, Ben speaks with Marketplace's Adriene Hill about the shift from SXSWedu to SXSW Interactive. Next up is Silicon Tally with Will Hurley, a longtime member of Austin’s tech community and the CEO of Honest Dollar, a company launching at SXSW Interactive this week. And finally, we talk with Matt Wright, co-founder of Wright Bros. Brew and Brew, about “the badge” as a symbol of SXSW, and what impact the event has for a new business like his.

Airing on Thursday, March 12, 2015: This is a special SXSWedu edition from our coverage in Austin this week. Marketplace's Adriene Hill, and the Learning Curve team, have taken over today - they have the latest from SXSWedu on what new research and technology have to tell us about the way kids learn.

Hilary Clinton finally spoke to reporters on Tuesday, defending her use of a private email account as a matter of "convenience." We spoke with Politico's Kyle Cheney and technology reporter Glenn Fleishman to find out more. Next up is Matthew Wall, business and technology reporter from the BBC, who chats with us about delivery drones in Africa. Finally, Marketplace’s Adriene Hill to talk about emotional learning technologies at SXSWedu, the education conference that's underway in Austin.

Airing on Tuesday, March 10, 2015: Apple just unveiled the price tag for its line of smartwatches. First, we speak with Lindsey Turrentine, Editor-in-Chief of CNET.com, about how much the Apple Watch costs and who’s going to buy it? Next, we take a look at companies responding to a more competitive labor market in general by emphasizing more on campus recruiting and marketing themselves to new workers. At the same time, companies are also recognizing that new workers aren't staying around very long no matter how much time and effort has gone into recruiting them.

Airing on Monday, March 9, 2015: First up, we'll talk to Kelly Jasper, Contributing Editor at the watch Magazine Hodinkee, talks about setting a price range for the Apple Watch. And when a Jennifer Aniston ad for Aveeno appears just before a jihadi training video on You Tube, Proctor and Gamble is not amused. On today's show, we explain how this could happen. For one, ads are automatically placed before videos, and advertisers can’t exert much control over this. And Ben speaks with Will Oremus, Senior Tech writer for Slate, about the new Googleplex.

Airing on Friday, March 6, 2015: Later this year, Apple is expected to unveil a new larger-screen iPad. The new device, boasting additional features, will be aimed at the business market. Will this move by Apple affect the whole of the business tablet/computer sector? And ho well have you kept up with the week in tech news? It's time for Silicon Tally! This week, Ben plays takes on Katie Notopoulos, Senior Editor at Buzzfeed.

Airing on Thursday, March 5, 2014: First up is Lee Hutchinson, Senior Reviews Editor for Ars Technica, to talk about how to set up your own, at-home email server. Next, for this week's segment of Back to Back to The Future Part II, Ben speaks with Matt Novak, author of Gizmodo’s Paleofuture blog, about controlling the weather.

Airing on Wednesday, March 4, 2015: First up is Molly Wood, technology columnist for the New York Times, to talk about the perfect match between smartwatches and mobile payments ... if either industry can figure out how to convince consumers to adopt its new technology. Next we have Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at the cybersecurity firm Sophos, on the “FREAK” flaw in Apple and Android browsers. We'll also speak with sound artist Matt Parker about The Imitation Archive, Parker’s quest to collect and archive the sounds of the early days of computing.

Customer Reviews

Wow.

by
21out

A great public-radio tech podcast. A would-be five stars, but with one anoying problem:
A five minute show with aproximately O:35 seconds of ads! It's okay to plug a sponsor, but two "underwriters" is pushing it and 0:15 seconds a piece, I'll skip the ads (always the same length) and go to the show.
Otherwise, I love it.

Great Show

Information packed!

by
Charles McEnerney

Succinct, information packed, and well-produced, the Future Tense series is a podcast I always listen to--and find there's always something within each episode that's new to me or that I understand better after I've listened. Well done!